Report from the Gloucestershire men's team who travelled to Southampton at the end of November to take part in the AEGON Winter County Cup.
Gloucestershire’s Men’s Team went into this winters event on the back of two consecutive promotions and were now fighting out for their place in division 4 alongside Hampshire, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire. Stand in captain James Pugh had the challenge of putting together enough rubbers wins to see if Gloucestershire could do the unthinkable and make it three years back to back promotions.
Day 1 vs Hampshire
Day 1 did not get off to the best start. Due to an ‘administrative error’ Gloucestershire’s 5 & 6 players were sent out in the wrong order which meant that both matches had to go down as losses for the first round. Both Si Filiatrault and Dan Shiner (both unaware of this) were unable to win these matches so no ‘difficult’ conversations were needed at the end. Next out were Matt Bennion and James Pugh who could not make up the ground lost and Hampshire’s advantage was stretched to 4-0. Chris Morrow brought some pride back to Gloucestershire’s efforts with a strong win against an experienced opponent however this upsurge was short lived as Richard Owen was unable to overcome the number 1 player for Hants and Gloucestershire relinquished the tie with Hants having a 5-1 lead going in to the doubles. A win for the number 1 doubles pair brought the final score on day 1 to 7-2 to Hampshire. Gloucestershire retired back to the hotel knowing that they would have a fight on their hands to remain in division 4 come the end of play on Sunday.
Day 2 vs Buckinghamshire
Day 2 saw a slight reshuffle in the singles order of play with Matt Morrow joining the team and playing at number 3. This allowed Dan Shiner to concentrate on doubles play and his university lecture notes…
First on were Matt Bennion and Si Filiatrault and straight away Si showed why he had been representing Gloucestershire for 10 years. A strong win got Gloucestershire off to the ideal start and with Matt losing in a closely fought 3 setter it was clear that Glos was in the fight here. Out rolled James Pugh and Matt Morrow to continue this battle when disaster struck and Matt went over on his ankle. Having forfeited the match, and a hospital trip later, Matt was diagnosed with a broken ankle. James was not aware of the action going on however he was unable to overcome a strong Bucks number 4 and Glos now had an uphill battle at 3-1 down going in to the last round of singles. Chris Morrow once again showed his class to overcome his opponent however Richard Owen was unable to beat the ATP world ranked number 1 for Bucks and Glos headed into the doubles knowing that they needed to win all 3 rubbers to take victory. This proved to be too greater a task and a familiar 7-2 loss was etched on the scorecard. Gloucestershire were left to mull over what could have been before picking themselves up for one final push on day 3.
Day 3 vs Cambridgeshire
Day 3 was very simple, no calculators needed. Hants & Bucks were playing for promotion and Glos and Cambs were in a dog fight to stay in division 4.
First to play were Si Filiatrault and Kes Crockett. Unfortunately Kes was unable to overcome a very solid performer and Si also looked down and out being a set and a break down. However…..anyone who knows the ‘trault will be aware that this is when he is able to produce his best tennis. And so he did. Avoiding the jaws of defeat Si got a win on the board for Glos that due to its manner lifted the whole team and gave them a feeling that perhaps this was the day for Glos to shine (no pun intended). End of round 1 finished 1-1. Next out James Pugh and Matt Bennion tried to replicate events and keep the score as close as possible. Cambs players were better on the day and the score moved to 3-1. Next out were Chris Morrow and Richard Owen. Chris delivered a typical (and mainly sugar fuelled) performance to bring the scores back to 3-2 and then Richard rolled out the type of performance that showed why he is a genuine number 1 player for Glos. 3-3 going into the doubles and all to play for. 2 more rubbers would do it for Glos.
Si and Kes brought out a vintage Beckford performance to give Gloucestershire the lead at 4-3 however James and Chris could not overcome the number 1 pair having had several match points in the championship tiebreak. 4-4. The tie rested on Richard Owen and Dan Shiner’s doubles effort. A strong first set and an early break signified that Gloucestershire were going to walk this home however a break back later and we were in a tiebreak for the second set. Both Dan and Rich showed superior composure to see out the early advantage they had gained and the win was Gloucestershire’s and with it a place in Division 4 next winter.